One Clever Little Punk
by Harriet Vane
Summary: Jack (season 1) figures out Clark's secreat, but will he keep it safe, or exploit it?


These charichters are not mine, I'm not sure who they belong to, but I'm quite sure it's not me. The story is mine. Yadda . . . yadda . . . yadda . . .

  
  


One Clever Little Punk

  
  


Clark, Jack and Danny were coming home from a Metropolis University football game. Danny couldn't quit talking, he was so excited about it. Jack had noticed the change in his brother almost immediately. Danny was much more talkative, he had more energy, and he kept talking about how much fun school was. Jack was starting to feel guilty about keeping him out of school and in such horrible conditions. But just seeing him like this, so happy, it made all the hassle of working at the Planet worth it.

They dropped Danny of at his foster home. Danny's "parents", who insisted they call them Gorge and Gloria, invited Clark and Jack to stay over for dinner but Clark said he had to get some work done before the early edition, Jack followed suite and bailed out.

"You know you didn't have to come with me," Clark reminded him as he hailed a taxi.

"I know."

"There's still time to go back, whatever Gloria was cooking smelled pretty good."

"I know, but there's something I want to say to you, that I couldn't say in front of Danny." Jack stopped, he was nervous, he wasn't sure how Clark would take it. Clark didn't say anything, but he had this annoying inquisitive look on his face. Finally Jack built up the nerve and blurted out. "Thanks."

"For what?"

Obviously Clark was going to make this hard. Jack considered retracting the comment but it was too late. "For getting me off the streets, for given' me a job. For hookin' Danny up with those people, for making me take those test, and helpin' me study."

"Those test are called the ACT's."

"Those test results came back." Jack tried to sound nonchalant, but it didn't work. It was obvious that he was excited.

"And?" Clark sounded pretty excited too.

"I got a 35"

Clark was ecstatic. "Congratulations! That's amazing!"

"I was kinda surprised. Ever since they were released I've had all these colleges and universities call me and ask me if I'd like to go study with them."

"Have you given the offers much thought?"

"I don't want to be an academic." Jack looked at the ground. "It's not me."

That was an understatement. "You don't have to make a career of collage, but you should go."

"Why? I've got a job, things are going ok, I don't really need to learn anything more."

"Do you want to work as a an errand boy at The Planet forever?"

"I'll get promotions."

Jack wasn't thinking and that upset Clark to no end. "You couldn't go very far up. Maybe to a security guard, or perhaps a janitor. You need an education."

Jack kicked a fire hydrant as they walked by it. 

  
  


"You know, Nigel, I'm not content." Lex Luther said as he looked out over Metropolis. It was his city. He could have anything he wanted. Almost. "And do you know why I can't have what I want?"

"I can't imagine, sir." 

"Because it belongs to another man." 

"May I ask who that man would be sir?"

"Need you ask?" Lex glanced over his shoulder to look at his valet. "Superman, who else? He has the adoration of the people. Whatever he says is held in the highest regards. He is invulnerable. And, last but not least, he has the heart of the only woman I have ever, and most likely, will ever, love."

"Ah, as the poet said 'what is the worth of the world if there is no one to share it with?'"

"My point exactly." Lex began pacing the room. "So the question is, as it so often seems to be. What shall I do to defeat Superman and win Miss Lois Lane."

"That is a quandary."

"Indeed, I think I should go about it differently than I've approached the problem before."

"Wise course of action, sir."

"Why does Lois love Superman? His dashing good looks? No, she's not that shallow. His incredible intelligence? Perhaps if he had any. His rippling muscles? I think not. There is only one possibility left to us, she loves him because he has saved her from disaster time and time again."

"Sound reasoning." Nigel said smoothly as Lex paused for a breath.

"Following this train of logic, if only I could dash in and be the hero, she would love me."

"Perhaps you are taking the lady too lightly, sir."

"Perhaps, but you must remember that I have already won over her mind. She and I have a quite agreeable relationship, _But_ in order for that relationship to advance in any way, her emotions are going to have to be moved, jump started if you will, in my direction. If I were to rescue her from peril and Superman was nowhere in sight, it only falls to reason that I would become the sole recipient of her affection."

"Tea, sir?"

"Yes."

"May I inquire how you plan to keep Superman from being a hero, and yet be a hero yourself?"

"That is at the heart of the dilemma. Naturally the plan must involve my strengths and Superman's weaknesses. His weakness is kriptonite, thanks to the Lexcorp Labs I can get my hand on an almost endless supply. And now to my strengths."

"There are so many." Nigel said as he handed Lex his tea.

"I could not physically save her, that would be unrealistic. I would never put myself in extreme danger, even for Lois."

"Prudent."

"There is, of course, my intellect, but putting that in the forefront of any endeavor would be cumbersome at least. I would prefer to be subtle. Lexcorp could always have some new gadget or theory which would save her, but that would not be my personal contribution, it would be the contribution of my corporation. In my mid that doesn't quite make me a hero. So what do I have left?"

"Your handsome figure?"

Lex laughed dryly. "My monetary assets. If a woman is excited by the fact that you spend a thousand dollars buying her a diamond, how will she feel when you spend twelve million on her life?"

"Quite appreciative?"

"Quite smitten, I hope. Which brings up another interesting issue. If a man feels a need always repay every debt how will he feel if he knows that twelve million dollars were spent on his life?"

"Quite indebted?"

"Quite possessed, I hope."

"May I ask how this connects to you're saving Lois Lane, Sir?"

"Well, it is simple really . Lois spends most of her day with Clark Kent. He is arguably her best friend. So it is reasonable to assume that she trust him and values his opinion. I don't need to tell you that his opinion of me is rather low. If I save Clark Kent, then what bad thing can he possibly say about me? Surly he would be far to weighed down by debt to poison the water, as it were."

"Ingenious plan, sir."

Lex took a deep inhale of his ever-present cigar and sighed with satisfaction. "Yes, I think so." 

  
  


"Well I'm proud of you Jack!" Lois said as she looked over his ACT scores. "You're really lucky, you can go anywhere, do anything with these scores."

"Yha, Clark said it wasn't luck, it was brains."

Lois felt a little foolish, Jack always made her feel that way though so she let it slide. Besides, he would be going of to collage soon, she could be nice to him until then; she had that much self control. "Well Clark's right. What are you going to do now?"

Jack shrugged, "Go to school I guess. I've had a couple places call me, I've gotten some letters."

"Have you made any decisions?"

"I've decided I don't like any of the places."

Lois was surprised. "Who called you?"

"Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, you know all preppie schools with kids who wear cardigans, and play polo, and can only get into school because Daddy sent in some mammoth donation."

"They're not all like that." Jack seemed very cynical for such a young kid.

"Maybe not, but I don't think I could take the chance. At least here I'm in my element."

"What would that be? Making wise cracks and annoying people."

"I think you'd fit in there just fine." He said as he walked away.

Lois was still trying to sort out wether Jack had just insulted her or not when Clark walked up. "Ready for lunch?"

"Yha, just let me finish this sentence." She started typing but stopped mid-word. That annoyed Clark to no end, he wanted to reach over her and finish it but he decided that that wouldn't be polite. So instead he tried to ignore it. "Clark do you think I'm a preppie snob?"

He hadn't expected that type of question. "Lois, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Your friend Jack," she said his name with particular relish, "seems to believe that I would fit in well at preppie schools filled with snobs."

Clark shrugged, "So, you've never let his opinions bother you before."

Lois turned back to her screen and quickly finished her sentence. As Clark was helping her on with her coat she expanded on the idea. "It's just that when I was in high school and collage I couldn't stand those kids. The boys on the football teams who dated cheerleaders..."

"I was on the football team and dated a cheerleader." Clark interjected.

"Oh," That through Lois of her horse "But you're not like that, really." She added quickly. "You were a brainy, nerdy type too." 

Clark thought about that for a second. "So, in high school and College I was a preppie, snobbish, brainy, nerd."

Lois was going to say something, then thought better of it and gave an ambiguous head nod that was neither a yes nor a no. "Lois, you didn't know me in high school or College."

"Well Clark, people never change."

"I see, I'm a preppie, snobbish, brainy, nerd right now?"

Lois slipped her arm in his and started leading him towards the elevator. "Do you want Chinese or Italian today?"

Clark laughed, he couldn't stay mad at her. "What do you feel like?"

  
  


Lois and Clark had just finished lunch at the Press Club when Jack came running up to them. He had obviously run from the planet, he was sweaty and out of breath. "Lex Luther needs to meet you at his corporate headquarters right away!"

"Both of us?" Lois asked bewilderedly.

"Yha, 'Lois and Mr. Kent'." Jack seamed to find the fact that Clark and Lex weren't on a first name basis humerus.

"Since when do you run errands for Lex Luther?" Clark asked obviously annoyed. 

"Since he pays me fifty bucks to run ten blocks." Jack pulled out a fifty dollar bill, he was obviously very pleased with himself. Clark felt bought out. Jack might not know it, but Lex had tried to kill him before. Clark didn't feel that he had the right to tell Jack that, but for the second time, Lex was able to outdo him and win the favor of people who should hate him. And there was nothing Clark could do about that, for now.

"Come on, Clark we'd better get over there right away! This must be important!" 

"Jack, did he tell you why we have to meet him?"

"He told me he'd give me another fifty if you make it under twenty minutes. If you catch a cab you'll make it in plenty of time."

Lois started to hail a taxi. "I don't think it's wise to jump at Lex Luther's every beck and call," Clark said as he was pulled into the cab by Lois.

"Do it for me, Clark." Jack said good naturedly. "To contribute to my collage fund."

They got out of the cab and left Clark with the bill. "If Lex wanted to see us so bad why didn't he send a car?" Clark mumbled as he dished out the ridiculous cab fair. But never the less they had made Jack $50. Lois was standing at the door, urgency painted on her face. 

"Hurry, Clark,"

"Coming," he said musicly.

He started towards her, but when he was about three feet away someone grabbed his arm and he felt something pointy press against his back. He knew that he had nothing to worry about, nothing had ever been able to penetrate his skin; still the sensation was disturbing, and obviously the action was meant as a threat.

"Mr. Kent," a harsh voice said behind him. "Would you tell Miss Lane to come over here?"

"Lllllois, I need to see you." Clark tried to sound nervous, maybe Lois would pick up on it and figure out what was going on."

"Clark, what are you standing around for. Lex wouldn't go to all this trouble if it wasn't important."

"Lois, this is kind of important."

"Can't you tell me in the elevator?"

Clark didn't know what to do or say, if he said anything wrong whoever was behind him would brake their wrist trying to kill him. Clark could think of several reasons that would be bad. Luckily Jack had picked up on all the subtler clues, he grabbed Lois's arm and pulled her toward Clark. "I think what Clark has to say is worth listening to." 

"Jack what are you doing?" Lois protested. Clark was about to protest to but he realized that Lois probably wouldn't have come over without Jack's urging. "What do you think you are doing, kid?" The man behind Clark said.

"You seemed like you needed some help." Jack seemed a little too calm. Clark started to worry. 

"I didn't ask for help."

"What's going on!" Lois demanded. She was furious, she tried to pull her arm away from Jack but he had and iron grip. "Clark, what's going on?!" 

"I wish I knew."

"Look, people this is my show!" The man said angrily, "and if any of you try to take it over I'll stab him." Despite the threat the sharp pressure eased on Clark's back. "Walk.," was all the guy said. But he didn't have to say much else.

He lead them to a black van and forcefully shoved Clark in. Then he grabbed Lois's arm away from Jack and threw her on top of him. Then before either of them could react he slammed the door shut. He started to walk around to the drivers side, but very quickly he found Jack in his way.

"Get out of here, kid."

"Ok, I can do that." Jack turned around but before he went one step he said "Oh look, a cop."

The man grabbed Jack's shoulder and turned him around violently. "What do you want?"

"A piece of the action."

"No way."

"Are you really that dense? You let me go and I'll go tell the cop's you just locked up two prominent reporters. You could kill me in the street right now, but there are lots of people and I'm not afraid to scream. So take me or you're screwed."

"The boss will get mad."

"Officer," Jack called over his shoulder, the cop was too busy writing a parking ticket to notice but it spooked the thug enough to let him ride along for the time being, and that was all Jack wanted.

"So what's your game kid?"

"I'm not a kid, a punk maybe, but not a kid."

"Look, you weren't invited."

"Oh, I didn't know this was a party."

"Shut-up."

"Yha," Jack was quiet for a second but it didn't last long. "So, what's the gig?"

"I don't see why you need to know!"

"I'm in on this now, whether you want me to be or not. And if you're in for a penny you're in for a pound."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I think it would be good for me to know what's going on considering that I'm part of this now."

"Who made you part of this?"

"I did." Jack said assertively. This guy was a little too easy to push around, he would have to be extra careful.

"Look, the boss ain't gonna like the fact you cut in."

"You don't have to tell him."

"What!"

"I'm not here as far as you're boss is concerned. What I'm saying is let me handle some minor details and give me a small cut. How much is this job worth anyway?"

"24 mil."

Jack let out a slow whistle. "For them? Who do you expect to pay that much for them?"

"Lex Luthor, the boss said that the guy was loaded and was in love with Lois Lane."

"So what's the deal with Kent? Lex sure doesn't love him."

"I don't call the shots and neither do you, so be quiet punk."

"The names James, man, James Olson."

"Sure, Jimmy. But, ah, what kind of minor details do you propose to handle?"

"Do you know Lois or Clark?"

"No."

"You weren't given a bio or anything?"

"No, should I have been?"

Jack shook his head, before this lowlife noticed anything he would be running the show. "How are you supposed to keep 'um under control if you don't know what kind of people they are. How 'bout Superman, how you gonna handle him?"

"I've got Kriptonite." The guy offered.

"Damn." Jack muttered.

"I thought that that was supposed to keep Superman away." The guy was spooked.

"Yha, it'll keep superman away alright."

"Then what's bad about Kriptonite?"

"It'll also let those reporters back there know that Superman won't be coming and so they'll be as annoying as hell. What we gotta do is keep them away from it. So that they think they'll be rescued and stay quiet. Right?"

"Hey, that sound's good."

Jack glanced out the window. He didn't know that Clark was Superman, but he was pretty sure. If they had Kriptonite, and if Clark was Superman, then they were all in a lot of trouble. He was going to have to figure out how to keep Clark far enough from the green rock to keep him alive, and somehow get Superman to show up. "So," he said casually, "Where are we going?"

"My restaurant, we have to hide out there. The Boss will deliver the demands and collect and all that."

"How will you get the cash?"

"That's the funny part, I only get about two mill out of the deal. Ten goes to the boss. I owe Lex Luther big time for some..." he cleared his throat, "unwise business dealings, and so ten mil of it is going to that."

"What kind of business dealings could you possibly have?" Jack blurted out, but he immediately thought better of it and added. "Never mind. You're business is you're business."

"You seem to be very comfortable putting yourself in my business right now."

Jack shrugged, "when I see an opportunity I take it."

"So how much of the money that's left are you gonna take?"

"Ten percent ought to be fair."

"What! You come in and screw up my job and you want ten percent!"

"You screwed up the job, grandpa. I got you out of the mess you made." Then seemingly from out of the blue he asked "You got any lead?" 

"Why?"

"There are two things we could do with lead. We could put it over the Kriptonite and then when Superman shows up unveil it, we'd have him then, but what would we do with him? The better thing to do, I think, is keep the Kriptonite out in the open, where he can see it. But keep the reporters behind the lead, so he can't see them. That ought to slow him down. Then again, that'll take a lot of lead."

"So Superman couldn't see through the lead, hey?"

"Yep."

"Well, we have this shed out in the back. It's real old, a fall out shelter from the cold war you know, it's made of lead."

"Perfect."

They pulled into a third rate diner. It was the type of place so decrepit that Jack wondered if even the greasiest truck driver or the most desperate traveler would dare to stop there. Not that it mattered, on the door a big sign reading "CONDEMNED" hung."So," The man said, "what do you think?"

Lois and Clark had had a hard ride in the back of the van. It was totally dark inside and the noise from the rode was almost deafening. Clark could tell that Lois was terrified. "What's going on?" she was talking in a normal voice but Clark had to concentrate to hear her. 

"I don't know."

"What was Jack doing?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was trying to . . ." Clark couldn't think of one thing Jack could have been doing short of switching sides. It made sense to. Danny was safe, Jack didn't have to worry about putting him in danger, Jack was uncertain and a little afraid about the future. It might appeal to him to fall into that type of life if the opportunity presented itself. "I don't know."

"You don't think he's in on this? Leading us to were they where going to pick us up?"

"No, Lois. I think we need to figure out what they are doing first. Whether Jack is part of it or not is inconsequential, for now."

"You're taking this awfully well. I would think you would be heartbroken just thinking about the fact that Jack returned to his life of crime."

"We don't know that. We don't know what's going on!"

"Ohh, I see. You're in denial."

"Lois, I just think it would be prudent to withhold any judgment until we're certain that Jack is a..."

"Traitor." Lois offered.

"We just need to wait." Clark said calmly. 

After about twenty minutes the van slowed to a stop. "Where do you think we are?" Lois said in a hushed voice.

"Out of the city, that's for sure. Other than that . . ." His sentence was halted by the door sliding open and the light assaulted them. Lois and Clark were still blinded by the light when someone grabbed their arms and pulled them out of the van. "Ok," Jack's voice said, his form was still barely more that a silhouette. "No struggles, no problems. Lois, try not to be a total idiot, Clark, if she does something stupid, I'm holding you accountable. So, the moral of the story is shut-up and don't piss us off."

Clark was speechless. Jack had done it. He had sold them out. Had he only been acting when he seemed to turn on the right path? Had he been planing this sort of thing all the time? But most disturbingly, Clark thought that Jack just might suspect who he was. If that was the case, Jack could be more dangerous than anyone else Clark had ever faced.

"Jack, what do you think you are doing!" Lois practically screamed. She felt just as betrayed as Clark, but she wasn't crippled by grief or worry, she was just mad.

The man glanced over at Jack, "Jack?"

"She never got my name right. Shut-up Lois." That made her even madder.

"Jack, we trusted you, we gave you a second chance. Do you know how easy it would have been to send you to jail?"

Jack turned around and looked at Lois, she had struck a cord in him. "As I remember it, Miss Lane, you had nothing to do with pulling me off the street and reforming me."

"That doesn't matter, Jack, what matters is the fact that you're throwing away your chance to have a decent life."

"Shut-up, Lois."

"I am not . . ." she began, even louder. 

Quickly Clark grabbed her arm. "Lois, don't make waves."

"Clark?"

"Let's just go with it." Clark said softly. Lois despised him for being so anti-action, but she had to admit that his course of action was prudent if not heroic. But Lois realized that Clark rarely took the heroic route, but somehow he still seemed to have the aura of a hero around him. Lois decided to do what he said and ate any comments she had wanted to make.

They were lead into the restaurant and told to sit at a table. Out of the kitchen a scrubby old woman walked out. She had an automatic weapon in one hand, and a big wooden spoon in the other. Lois, Clark, and Jack all looked at her as if she was some sort of apparition, but she didn't look at any of them, her entire attention was on the man.

"Where were you, Stevie?" She said shrilly.

"It wasn't exactly an easy thing I just did."

"Obviously you tried to hard. You got one two many people. Who's the kid?"

"Jimmy, His name is Jimmy Olson. He helped me out. He knows what's what."

"Jimmy!" Both Lois and Clark gasped. Jack just glanced at them, bitterly. The other two ignored them. 

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look, this sort of thing isn't exactly my forte, but this kid..."

"Punk," Jack had gotten attached to the word for some reason.

"He sees what kind of trouble I'm in and he bails me out."

"Out of the goodness of his heart?"

"For ten percent of the remaining profits," Stevie leaned a little closer to the woman and whispered. "Plus I think that is a personal thing too."

The woman walked over to Jack. "So, you don't like these two?"

"My business, not yours. I don't want much. So just let me hang around, ok?"

"I don't like it."

"Why don't you go over the options with Stevie over there and get back to me on them. Until then, I can take these two to the shed in the back."

"You, little Mister, are not going anywhere."

"Fine, I've got no place to go."

"In fact I think you shouldn't go anywhere ever again." She dropped the rolling-pin and put both hand's on the riffle and aimed it at Jacks head. "I think the only place you have to go is a shallow grave."

Jack didn't flinch, but Clark could tell that he was frightened. "Stop!" He yelled.

"Who, gave you permission to talk?" The woman swerved the gun towards Clark. He didn't flinch either. 

"You don't know what you're doing, put the gun down."

"Shut-up! Or it's gonna be you're shallow grave."

"Clark, sit down and be quiet." Lois hissed.

Jack walked back toward Lois and Clark slowly. The woman was going to shoot someone, he had a feeling. And it would not be good if she shot Clark. Not good in the least.

"Look, Miss,"

"The name is Joanna."

"Fine, Joanna, you don't know what you're doing. You don't understand what you're getting into. The people you're dealing with are very dangerous, they see you as an object, a means to a ends, they won't give you what you were promised."

"Don't say that!" The woman screamed. 

"I'm only trying to help you. You don't understand what you've gotten yourself into."

"Listen here, I have no qualms about shooting you or the kid.

"Punk,"

"Shut-up."

"Look doll." Jack said smoothly. "Look at the two of them." He walked behind Lois and Clark, so he was in between them. Clark didn't know what Jack was planing."Look at her dress," Jack said expressively. "And his suit. Do you think they have any idea what they're talking about? Do they look like they have ever experienced a hard life? You think they know what it's like to be in debt? Nope. I've hung around with these spoiled brats for months and they are used to a life of privilege. Little Lois Lane here is dating the richest man in the world, and all-American Clark Kent had a perfect child hood. They don't know what they are talking about."

"Jack?" Clark said quietly. He was on the verge of tears. He had trusted him, wholly and completely only to be betrayed. Jack didn't even look at them.

"The name is James," He reminded everyone in the room.

The crazy woman cracked a smile. "I like you kid, a lot. What you says makes sense."

"See Joanna, picking up the kid . . ."

"Punk,"

" . . . was the best thing that could have happened." Stevie said.

"So, should I take 'um out to the shed or what?"

"We'll all take 'um out to the shed." Joanna said, she still had the gun in her hand, and was not to picky about who she pointed it towards. 

  
  


The shed was actually about a half a mile from the restaurant. If for some reason there ever was a nuclear fallout it was no nearly close enough to get to before the burn out hit. As they got closer Clark began to feel more and more uncertain. He could tell that the place was made of lead. He wouldn't be able to hear or see anything. 

"You're making a mistake." Clark said intending the comment towards Jack, but Joanna seemed to think it was meant for her.

"Shut-up." The woman said viciously

"You won't get away with this."

"I'll shut you up, it's not like we get less money if we damage _you_." Both Lois and Clark were to busy trying to understand what Joanna had meant by 'it's not like we get less money if we damage _you_' to focus on the first part of the statement. Fortunately Jack was not so blind. Joanna swung her automatic weapon right at Clark's back. Jack realized that if he didn't do anything a bullet would bounce harmlessly off his back, and it would not be easy to explain that away. Jack did the only thing he could think of, he through himself into Joanna. She fired, and missed Clark by mile. Unfortunately, she didn't miss Lois, at all. She gasped and fell forward. Clark was by her side, shielding her before any normal human would be able to turn around. He was able to block three more bullets, but by that time no one was paying any attention.

"What do you think you are doing!" Joanna said. She was obviously furious, she had Jack pinned on the ground and her riffle was pointed directly at his chest. 

"I tripped." Jack gasped. He didn't seem nervous, as if the prospect of having his chest explode didn't bother him. 

"You what!"

"On that root over there." Jack nodded to a root that was sticking up out of the ground. It was an entirely probable explanation. And for some reason the fact that Jack was calm, not rushing to find an excuse calmed her. Jack presented himself as blameless, and that was how he was taken. Joanna relaxed her grip on the riffle and let Jack get up. Jack did so at his leisure. It was like he had turned off any emotion he had ever had. Jack had never been emotional, but he had become down right cold hearted. 

Clark was too busy with Lois to notice any of that. "Lois, Lois are . . . are you OK?"

"What do you think?" She said between clenched teeth. She obviously was in a lot of pain. Clark didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to help.

"Lois, You're gonna be Ok." Clark said as he gently helped her into a sitting position, her right side was completely covered in blood and she was starting to gasp for breath.

"Clark, what happened?"

"I'm not sure. But don't worry I won't let anything else hurt you. I'll be on top of the situation from now on."

Lois looked at into his eyes long and hard. He wanted to say something comforting but nothing came to mind. Finally she glanced away. "You'd better," was all she said. Clark almost smiled. 

"I will Lois, no matter what." If that meant flying off, or catching bullets, or freezing things with his breath in front of the whole company than so be it. Clark had a feeling that Jack knew already anyway. He would probably betray Clark's secret eventually. It was only a matter of time. Delicately Clark positioned his arms around Lois's body and lifted her of the ground. She started to mover her arms around her neck, the same way she held Superman whenever he carried her, but Clark insisted she keep her arms down, to limit the bleeding. "We have to get her to a hospital" There was a definite tone of desperation in his voice. "Now."

"Nope. That would defeat the point."

"She'll die. Won't that defeat the point?" Clark didn't even know what the point was but it was a safe bet that Lois dying was not 'the point.'

"She doesn't need to see a doctor." Jack said coldly. "You can heal her, Clark."

He didn't know that, at that point, all the color drained from his face. "What are you talking about?"

"You remember that night when we were buddies. You saved Lex Luthor. I was right next to you, I saw everything." Clark had no idea how to respond to that. Was he talking about the fake mixture Clark had concocted or his heat vision? "I can't do that here." He said at length.

"Sure you can." Jack turned toward Stevie. "Quick get some tea bags, orange rinds, and start chewing some gum."

"What?" Neither of the kidnappers seamed to know what was going on.

"Look, Clark knows how to make this brew to close the wound and stop the bleeding. If he doesn't do it Lois probably will die. And she's the important one, isn't she?"

"Yha," Joanna said reluctantly. She couldn't help but worry about Jimmy, he was a little too good at what he was doing.

"Well than hurry up. Tea, orange rinds, and chewed gum!"

"Go get it, Stevie." Joanna ordered. Stevie quickly ran towards the restaurant. "Meet us at the shed." She gained a firmer grip on her gun. "Now, carry her," Joanna said harshly.

Clark reviewed his options. He wanted to fly away with Lois in his arms and deliver her into safety, and two seconds ago he might have. But Jack had thrown him another curve ball. They young man was either totally clueless and Clark had misunderstood everything, or he wasn't a total traitor. Either way, Clark felt he should stick around until he was sure. He drew Lois closer to him, headless of the fact that her blood was ruining his suit. She groaned softly in pain but, did little else. "That way." She motioned further into the woods. Clark went quietly.

  
  


The shed was dark, damp, and cold. Hardly the place Clark would chose to care for the continually less lucid Lois. She had already lost a lot of blood, and she was feverish. He gently set her down on a small cot in the corner and propped her head up with his suite jacket. "How do you feel?" He whispered.

"I'm so tired." She groaned.

"Don't worry. Rest a while. I'll take care of you."

Slowly Lois exhaled, she was asleep within seconds. But she was still bleeding, still dying.

"Why don't you go wait for Stevie outside. I'll help Clark." Jack offered, as if he didn't care for a moment what was going on.

"Why don't you go out and wait for Stevie?" She asked suspiciously.

"Ok, I can do that." He said as nonchalantly as he could. She looked at him suspiciously, like he was trying to enforce his own agenda, but he seemed so unemotional, so unconcerned. Either this kid was a total psychopath, or the most ingenious criminal she had ever seen. Either way she wasn't going to be to much of a thorn in his side. 

"On second thought why don't you keep an eye on these two. I'll wait for Stevie." She walked out of the room and closed the door.

Jack ran over to were Clark was kneeling. "Hurry up and help her already." He said with more than a note of urgency in his voice.

Clark looked at him with utter contempt. "I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but I want to know whose side your on. Now."

Jack glanced away and then looked Clark with alarming intensity. "I'm on your side."

"You know that's what I want to hear." And Jack knew that Clark could kill him without breaking a sweat. 

"Let me tell you something that you don't want to hear. They're holding you and Lois for ransom. They were hired to do it so they could pay of there debts to Lex Luthor and they have Kriptonite. Without me you would be in big trouble. I kept you from being shot."

"So instead it was Lois!"

"At least she bleeds." His angry expression seemed to soften, "you need to help her." Clark glared at him. "If I was gonna say anything I would have said it by now."

Somewhat reluctantly Clark took off his glasses and zapped her wounds with his heat vision. She gasped in pain but never woke up, and she settled down after a few seconds. And she was no longer bleeding. "That was only a temporary fix. She is hurt much worse that Luthor was."

Jack nodded, Clark could practically see his brain go about a million miles a minute. Maybe he did know what he was doing. "Yha, don't worry. We'll be out of this soon."

Clark stroked Lois's hair back tenderly. Then he turned towards Jack, he no longer looked tender. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Keeping the two of you alive."

"That's not what I meant."

"What do you think would have happened if you had been shot." Clark wasn't sure how to answer that. Jack finished the thought. "They have Kriptonite, you'd be dead either way. And speaking of which they're planing on putting it all over the place. I figured it would be better to keep you in here, to shield you from it because it's ..."

"Lead lined."

"But I'll figure out a way for you to get out. The more I know and the more they trust me the easier it'll be."

"And the more you'll incriminate yourself."

"I'm not incriminating anyone. If they are asked to testify they'll say that they were helped by Jimmy Olson."

"Who was at the Planet building all day." 

"Exactly."

"So what will you do when they point you out in a crowd."

"I have no intention of being in any crowed anywhere near them, besides, you'd stand up for me wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would."

There was commotion outside of the shack, Clark glanced at Jack and without a word the boy was outside, scoping out the situation. Clark tried to see through the door, but it had lead in it too. So he closed his eyes and listened.

"Look who I found!" Stevie yelled. There was a murmuring and then Joanna said, very pleasantly, "Welcome Mr. Conrad. We weren't expecting you."

"Obviously," a British accent said Coldly. "May I ask why you are here instead of the dinner?"

"It's made of lead, Mr. Conrad. Superman won't be able to see them."

"I didn't expect you to think that much." 

"Actually it was Jimmy's idea." Stevie said.

"Jimmy?" The voice was questioning. Clark had the feeling that the question wasn't so much a 'who is Jimmy?' as a 'is this Jimmy?' and he wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Hi," Jack said casually. "How you doing?"

"I'm bothered by the fact that you have somehow managed to walk in and assume control of this situation. It was not expected and not welcome."

"What you gonna do? Murder me?"

"It has been done before."

"Look, I'm not asking for any of your cut. And you know that I don't cheat on a business deal. Or don't you remember me?"

"No, no, I remember _Jimmy_, I remember very well."

"So you two know each other?" Joanna ventured. Clark bit his lip, these people didn't know what they were doing, they were way out of there league. 

"We have had past, dealings, yes. This turn of events complicates matters."

"It was a good idea wasn't it. To keep 'im where Superman couldn't find 'im?" Stevie was definitely a little nervous. If the Englishman didn't like Jack it really was on his head.

"Indeed, a very good idea." There was silence for a moment and then suddenly he continued. "In light of this new development I think that we should wait just a little longer. I will return this evening with the ransom money from Mr. Lex Luthor." 

"Tonight," Joanna sounded scared, "I thought you said it'd be a real short term kinda thing."

"It will be."

"But the girl she got hurt!"

"Now who's fault is that?" There was definite anger in his voice. 

"No ones." Jack said cooly, "It was an accident."

"You are not being paid to make accidents. This will lower there ransom you understand, the cut is not coming from you're end of the bargain."

"Why not raise the ransom?" Jack suggested. Clark couldn't figure out what he was doing. "If you're counting on Luthor to bail them out then tell him that Lois got hurt, the ransom is up by two mill, and if he doesn't pay ASAP then Lois will probably die for lack of sufficient medical treatment. He has to pay then, and he has to pay fast."

There was quiet for a long time but then Jack broke the silence, "Is that the stuff for Lois?"

"Ah, yha." Stevie said meekly.

"I'll go give it to Clark." Two seconds later Jack was standing in the shed. "I saw the boss." He whispered.

"I heard. You also suggested that they increase the ransom."

"Why not? Luthor doesn't care."

"It may take longer."

"I sort of anticipated you escaping. Soon as they looked the other way."

"I don't know which way there looking." Clark couldn't hide the frustration in his voice. He had convinced himself that Jack was on the up and up, but still, there were so many doubts. 

"I'll let you know. Remember I'm also depending on you to get me out of this."

"I remember." 

Jack nodded. "I've seen the boss before."

That piqued Clark's interest. "Where?"

"He was the guy that bought, your . . . I mean Superman's globe thing from me."

"Nigel," Clark muttered.

"Who?"

"Lex Luthor's valet. I bet Luthor is behind this whole scheme. It makes sense, they have kriptonite, don't they?"

"Time out, Luthor was behind that whole globe thing?!"

"I think so, but I can't prove it." Jack was quiet. He hadn't liked Lex, ever. But he had never suspected him of being a criminal low life, of trying to kill him. "Jack?" Clark said after a moment, "Jack? Are you ok?"

"Yha, I'm fine." He said absent mindedly.

"It's kind of spookie, isn't it? Personally knowing the guy who tried to kill you and having to pretend you like him."

"I can't say I'm to hot on the whole idea." He took a deep breath suddenly was back to the present situation. "Now that we know who's behind it all we have to do is figure out how to get out before the deal takes place."

Clark nodded. "What I'm wondering is why kidnap Lois and me, only to ransom our freedom. It seems like he's losing money."

"But only about two million, the rest of the world think's he's losing twenty-four million."

"For the good publicity?"

"Makes sense."

"But why Lois and me? He's dating Lois, why would he want to put her through this?"

"It's a knight in shining armor sort of thing. HE saves the day and rescues the princess."

"But then, why me?"

"Convenience?"

"Not likely. He lured us to outside his building where he had Stevie pick us up."

"Yha,"

"I didn't want to go. It would have been much easier to only grab Lois."

"But if he loses a couple million saving you're life, then you owe him, don't you."

Clark was beginning to understand. It came to him like a revelation, things like this always did. No matter how hard he tried he could never understand motives of criminals, they always seemed to be so flawed. "I suppose so. I'd look like an ungrateful jerk if I hated him after he spent so much money on me."

"Exactly, So all we have to do is prove that Luthor is behind this now."

"It's not going to easy. HE sent Nigel, so if he gets caught it's a safe bet that Lex will assume total ignorance."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"For now, stay on top of the situation out there, and keep me posted. Do they have the kriptoinite out yet?"

"No, I haven't seen any." 

"Tell me when they do. I shouldn't be able to feel it in here, and that could make escape more difficult."

"Yea, no problem." Jack bit his lower lip and looked at the door. Clark wasn't sure if the boy was afraid to go back out or afraid to stay in the room. But he left without another word. Clark walked over to the cot Lois was lying on. "This will work out," he told her. "I don't know how but it will." She didn't answer.

  
  


"So, the young man who sold us the kriponite globe, and then mysteriously was hired by the Daily Planet has somehow positioned himself in my way again."

"Yes sir."

"How very odd, that fate should throw us together once again, don't you think?"

"Very odd indeed sir."

"Were you able to discern his intentions?"

"Not to my liking. He had taken control of the situation, as it were."

"Well that wouldn't be too hard, Stevie and Joanna are both total idiots, the are never in control of any situation."

"Indeed, and he has taken the iniative on some very interesting points."

"Such as?"

"Mr. Kent and Miss. Lane are bing held in a small structure lined with lead. According to him, that way Superman will not be able to see them."

"An interesting idea."

"And the Kripotnite is positioned around the shed, to deters Superman if he was to come close."

"Now, Nigel, to me that seems anti-productive. Superman would have to be an idiot to not suspect a place lined with Kriptonite as the hiding place for his search."

"Apparently. Should I tell them to move the Kriponite in with the prisoners, so that if Superman finds them, he will be powerless as soon as he gets close?"

"Yes, good thinking. What other surprises did little Jack bring?"

"Well they are not calling him Jack, they called him Jimmy Olson."

Lex Laughed. "Hum, obviously he is deceiving them, which implies that he is only bidding his time until he can help them escape. We'll have to find a way to terminate his involvement immediately. Anything else?"

"Apparently Miss Lane was wounded in some way."

Lex's eyes doubled in size. He looked at his valet with horror. "How did it happen?"

"I didn't enquire too far sir, I am supposed to be discreet and unconcerned, am I not?"

"Yes, of course."

"But I was able to discern that it was an accident caused by Joanna's quick temper and Jack, or should I say Jimmy's, interference." Lex was furious, there was murder in his eyes. "They seemed to think that she needed hospitalization."

"Then I'll take the ransom money out there immediately. The police and the press are all holding there breath until I act. The sooner it's done the less likely Superman will be able to interfere."

"Yes sir. You should also know that they have increased there ransom demands by one million dollars, for medical reasons."

"Jack's idea was it?"

"Yes, sir."

"He really is a clever boy. It's a shame that he has aligned himself with people like Mr. Kent. He has a sort of genius that I appreciate."

"But?"

"But he'll have to go to jail for assisting these people in there horrendous crime."

"How sad."

"Yes, I'll go talk to the Police chief and notify him of the new situation. Shall I meet them at midnight?"

"Yes, sir."

"In the diner?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alone?"

"They would prefer that, naturally." 

"But then I'll recognize them, and as soon as we have Miss Lane in the Hospital and Mr. Kent at our service I'll call the police with there identities, they in turn will send out an APD and before you can say 'got'cha' they will both be under arrest for two accounts of kidnaping."

Lois was still asleep. Clark was leaning against the wall, felling downright ill. Clark kept telling himself that it was because he was hungry. It was getting late, around seven, and they still hadn't eaten. Clark had been hungry about three times in his life, and they usually occurred after long periods of not eating. When he was touring the world, for example, he had decided not to eat for economical purposes. He went for about three day's until he started to feel hungry, and another two days before he had actual hunger pains. So he doubted that lack of food was his problem. On the other had, he was surrounded by Kriptonite, with only a thin layer of lead to protect him. An old layer of lead, a layer of lead that probably had holes and cracks in it. Clark closed his eyes and began to levitate. There was something wonderful about levitating himself. He could think clearer and concentrate harder when he was not touching anything. He had to get out of there, fast. If he was exposed to even this minium amount of radiation for long he wouldn't be able to do anything. Clark was extremely anxious, he wanted to talk to Jack.

"I wish I could do that."

Clark suddenly fell to the floor. He was assaulted with Kripton ray's and he was in as much pain as Lois had been shot earlier that day.

Jack quickly shut the door and ran over to Clark on the floor. He was gasping the breath. "You Ok?"

Clark found his way to his knees. "Yea," he said at length. "But I need to get out of here." He glanced over to the cot. "And so does Lois."

"Luthor is coming around midnight with the money. You need to get out of here before then."

"I'd like to but . . ." he glanced "maybe its best for Lois for us to wait."

"You'll be playing right into his hand's."

"I don't want to do that. But Lois . . ."

"Why don't you leave now."

"What?"

"Leave now. Crash through the roof and get out of here."

"I can't leave Lois."

"Take her."

"I can't leave you."

"Why not?"

Clark opened his mouth, there were thousands of different reasons, but he couldn't think of any at that time.

"Go, now."

"The Kriptonite." Clark started.

"If you go fast enough you'll be out of range before they get to you, right?"

"I can't take Lois that fast, and I can't crash through the roof with her."

"What if I made the hole?"

"How could you?"

"With this." Jack puled a Handgun from his back pocket. He did so smoothly, like he had done it several times before. Clark decided not to ask about that.

"Where did you get that?"

"Nigel gave it to me. He said that I should use it, if anything happened."

"He want's you to shoot someone."

"And get myself arrested because of it."

"How much do you want to bet that's stolen?"

Jack laughed. "They really think there smart, don't they."

"Jack, you have to be very, very careful."

"I know."

"The only problem is that I don't think you could make a big hole with that little gun."

"I bet that if it was frozen it would shatter."

Clark glanced at Jack and couldn't help but smile. The Kid was much smarter than anyone had ever given him credit for. Without a word he inhaled deeply and blew on the roof. The cold air circulated and naturally gravitated down. Clark was fine, cold and heat didn't really affect him. Jack on the other hand was freezing. But within seconds the roof was covered in ice.

"Go to it." Clark said.

Jack had never fired a gun before. He had always imagined how it would feel, but he was wrong. He had bought into the smooth image of the gunslinger who could fire without flinching. For Jack it was nothing like that. The noise scared him and the recoil practically threw him to the ground. But after three rounds his hand felt like it had been crushed by a rock. It didn't matter though, the roof had collapsed after one. Jack hadn't even noticed that the ceiling had collapsed and that some of the lead had fallen on him, he had a rather large cut on his forehead, and his hands were bloody. He turned to look at Clark, but he saw Superman with Lois barely awake in his arms. "Are you Ok?" Superman asked, His eyes were filled with concern. Jack didn't have time for concern, in a few seconds Joanna and Stevie would burst in the door and wonder exactly what was going on. "Go, Go!" Jack whispered.

"I'll come back for you."

"Leave!"

Superman flew of with Lois in his arms. He did look back, to see Joanna and Stevie running into the room, Jack seemed to have the situation under control, he could take care of himself for a few minutes. Couldn't he?

Superman flew away, secure in the fact that Jack had the situation under control.

  
  


"What just happened?!" Stevie yelled.

"Superman just crashed in and grabbed Lois and Clark, I tried to stop him, but, uh, the gun doesn't work to well on him."

Joanna looked at Stevie. Jack was starting to worry. They had something on their minds and he didn't like it at all. Joanna raised her semi-automatic. "Stay there." 

"What's going on?"

"Mr. Conrad warned us about you." Stevie blurted out. "He said that if anything unexpected happened to kill you."

Jack was starting to feel lightheaded. He had yet to realize that he had several gaping cuts that were bleeding profusely, on top of the fact that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Add the new stress that he was going to be killed, most likely, and his system couldn't handle it. He fainted. 

"Now what do we do?" Stevie asked.

"Take him into the diner, I guess." Joanna offered. "And wait until the boss comes."

  
  


"Mr. Luthor, I have some wonderful news!" some random police officer told him. "You don't have to pay the ransom!"

"What?!" Lex was shocked, he hadn't heard that anything had gone wrong and all of a sudden some cop who probably thought that he was a genius for cracking the case was telling him the entire sham had collapsed.

"Clark Kent just admitted Lois Lane in the Metropolis County hospital. He said that Superman had found them and rescued them."

"That's impossible." Lex muttered.

"What sir?"

"Too good to be true!" Lex exclaimed jovially. "I'll have to go see Lois immediately." But before he got in his car and drove away he called Nigel. "What went wrong?!"

"I'm afraid I don't know sir."

"The Kriponite was in place."

"Yes sir."

"They were in a lead barrack, where he couldn't see them."

"So I was told."

"Then what went wrong!"

"Jack, sir."

"That little brat?"

"He must have lead him to them."

"Of course.'

"I do have some good news on that end, however."

"I would appreciate some good news at the moment."

"He is lying helpless at the diner at this moment, awaiting execution."

Lex smiled. "By all means don't make his wait a long one."

  
  


Jack woke up cold and wet. It took a while for him to get his bearings. He realized that they had been splashing him with water in an effort to wake him up, It hadn't worked. Finally Stevie had taken to slapping him, that worked well. Jack opened his eyes and the world seemed to be spinning. His head ached and his throat was dry. He sat up slowly, but even that seemed to fast. "Ohhhhhhh,"

"Welcome back," Joanna hissed. Jack had a felling that it wasn't exactly a warm welcome.

"What's going on?" He croaked out.

"We thought you might like to be awake when we kill ya." She smiled at him wickedly. "You realize that will make you a murderer." 

"They won't catch us." Joanna said as she cocked her gun. "Mr. Conrad promised that we wouldn't get caught."

"Didn't he promise you that you'd get lots of money? That didn't turn out to well."

"That's your fault." Joanna said harshly, but then again she did everything harshly. 

Jack swallowed hard, he was pretty sure that Clark wasn't going to get back in time. He was also pretty sure that these was going to be his last seconds on earth. He didn't really regret that much; things hadn't turned out quite the way he has wanted them to but overall he thought he had made a lot of good choices. Danny was going to be Ok, and Lois and Clark had gotten out alright. Jack keep telling himself that he had done what was right, and that's all that mattered. For some reason staring down the muzzle of the Semi-automatic, that all was ringing hollow. "Say your prayers."

Jack was in the process of doing just that when he herd the gun go of. He flinched and waited for the bullet to hit him, and he waited. Finally he opened his eyes and saw the flap of a red cape in front of him and he heard the unmistakable voice of Superman. "You are all under arrest for the kidnaping of Lois Lane and Clark Kent." 

There was silence and then a torrent of gun fire. Jack couldn't quite see, but he assumed that Joanna was firing her gun at him in a vain attempt to kill him. He curled into a small ball and hoped that none of the bullets got past the man of Steal. Suddenly the firing stopped. "Run!" Joanna screamed and the two thugs bolted out the door. Superman was after them in a flash and in the background he could here police sirens. Jack didn't know what to do. He wanted to run away from the police. He had lived in constant fear of the police for several years and he was still very tired and very confused. Jack followed his instincts and bolted out the back door. It was late and dark. Jack wasn't sure were he was going. He figured that he could hide, until the cops had left and then maybe Superman or Clark would come looking for him. 

He ran along what he thought was a path. He could go to the shed. That's the first place Clark would look. He speed up, he thought that he heard foot falls behind him. He stumbled over a tree root and then, as he tried to catch himself he tripped again over a rock. He fell right into a tree. "Where are you going?"

"Clark?"

"Superman."

"Whatever."

"Why were you running?"

"Don't let the cops get me."

"Jack, I was there, I saw what happened. You have nothing to fear."

"They won't believe me."

"They'll believe me. Clark and Lois will both testify on you're behalf." Jack nodded, he wanted to run, but he was going to trust Clark, or Superman. 

"You promise, nothing bad will happen."

"I promise."

Jack tried to push himself up, but he was still dizzy. He didn't get very far before he fell to his knees. "Do you need any help?"

"I can stand by myself." He tried to do just that but failed miserably. Jack didn't snap at him when Superman helped him up, nor when the man of steel picked him up and flew away. He blacked out again after only a few seconds in the air. 

  
  


For the second time in a very short while Jack woke up in unusual surroundings. Unlike the last time he wasn't afraid in the least. He was warm and he could smell breakfast cooking. He opened his eyes slowly, he didn't recognize his surroundings in the least, but it didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

Jack pushed himself out of the bed and decided to start exploring; he hoped to discover where the smell of the bacon was coming from. He wandered through doors and poked his head in a few rooms before he found the kitchen, and found Clark cooking in it, with his eyes.

"Can you make scrambled eggs?"

Despite his super hearing Clark was surprised, he turned around with a start and nearly spilled the eggs he was mixing. "Good morning Jack, I could make you some scrambled eggs if you want."

"Not really, I was just wondering."

"Sit down, how would you like your eggs?"

"Sunny side up." As Clark was cooking the egg Jack sat down and started playing with the salt and pepper shakers. 

"There you go." A plate with two eggs, sunny side up, a cuple of strips of bacon and tost to boot. 'Anything else, coffee, OJ, milk . . ."

"What did you tell the police?"

"About you?" Jack nodded. "Nothing."

"WHAT?"

"They didn't see you. Joanna and Stevie kept talking about Jimmy Olson, who has an airtight alibi and I talked to Lois, she won't say a word."

"So?"

"You're home free. You should call Perry and tell him you got sick and had to go home yesterday, and you should stay here today too. You're still kinda weak."

"I feel fine." Jack said between bites. It was the largest breakfast he had had in months and he wolfed it down. "Could I have some more?"

"Sure."

"I don't see any reason why I can't go back today."

"Look in the mirror, you didn't exactly come out of this unscarred."

Jack looked down at his plate, it was a basically a dark, shinny surface. Despite the smears from his egg he could see a warped reflection of himself. He had a large cut on his forehead and several other, smaller scars. "You zapped these?"

"Superman did."

"Isn't it weird talking about yourself in third person all the time?"

"Yes," Clark sat at the table across from Jack. and ate his lunch at a leisurely pace.

"How can you keep on doing it? Wouldn't it be easier to just be one or the other?"

"Yep, but if I had to chose I'd be Clark, that's who I really am and I love my life as Clark. I wouldn't want to be Superman all the time. But the world needs Superman, I can't abandon them."

"I guess not."

THE END


End file.
